***“Lord Jesus, nothing less than the sap that flows through Thyself, nothing less than the Spirit of Thy divine life is what we ask. Lord Jesus, I pray Thee let Thy Spirit flow through me in all my work for Thee.” I tell you again that the sap of the heavenly Vine is nothing but the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is nothing but the life of the heavenly Vine, and what you must get from Christ is nothing less than a strong inflow of the Holy Spirit*** (Andrew Murray)*** Supplications grinded out in the mortar and pestle of the heart then poured out on the "Altar of Incense" as a sweet fragrance to the Most High God. Side by Side the Christian and the Holy Spirit "Lift" the prayer up through the "weight of glory", to the lamb who offers it to Him who sits on the throne ******Allow the Holy Spirtit to usher you into the presence of the Father***(God the Father honors the prayers inspired by God the Holy Spirit)The Holy Spirit (synantilambanetai)GK. - heaves with us, over against us, helps as we help one that would lift up a burden, by lifting over against him at the other end-helps with us.(the Spirit intercedes for us in our hearts, while Christ intercedes for us in heaven) **In heaven Christ lives to pray. His whole communion with His Father is prayer: an asking and receiving of the fullness of the Spirit for His people. God delights in nothing so much as in prayer. Will we not learn to believe that the highest blessings of heaven will be unfolded to us as we pray more**Oh that we knew better how to pray in the Holy Ghost, and to rely absolutely upon Him for utterance! What wonders would be wrought in the Church in answer to our prayers! He knows the kind of prayer that will prevail with our Heavenly Father. He knows the kind of prayer that will bring about a world-wide revival. His eyes still run to and fro in the earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him. (Lord, teach us to pray; and inspire us to expect greater things.) **The delays in prayer are not needed to change God, but to change us.***(The Author and Inspirer to the Hearer and Answerer - John 14.16)***No erudition, no purity of diction, no width of mental outlook, no flowers of eloquence, no grace of person can atone for lack of fire. Prayer ascends by fire. Flame gives prayer access as well as wings, acceptance as well as energy. There is no incense without fire; no prayer without flame*** -- (E. M. Bounds)***The "Lord's Prayer" is only 3 minutes long****Our Lord is thinking about faith and facts more than about some formula. The chief object of prayer is to glorify the Lord Jesus. We are to ask in Christ's name "that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John xiv. 13). Listen! We are not to seek wealth or health, prosperity or success, ease or comfort, spirituality or fruitfulness in service simply for our own enjoyment or advancement or popularity, but only for Christ's sake -- for His glory****We cannot pray in Christ's name unless we bear that name before people. And this is only possible so long as we "abide in" Him and His words abide in us. So we come to this -- unless the heart is right the prayer must be wrong*** To some that Pray, words are secondary. They are only an anchor. Or, shal I say, they are the movements of a conductor's baton: not the music. They serve to canalize the worship, or penitence, or petition, which might without them-such are our minds-spread into wide and shallow puddles. Luke: 18 - "men ought always to pray and not to faint..."Israel: the name conferred on Jacob after the great prayer-struggle at Peniel / Gen 32:28 because "as a prince he had power with God and prevailed." We must wrestle with God, as those that know how to value the blessing, and will have no nay. God’s praying people are told to give him no rest, Isa. 62:6. "...shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, and give him no rest"...He may bear long with them, and may not presently appear for them, in answer to their prayers. He is makrothymoµn ep’ autois-he exercises patience towards the adversaries of his people, and does not take vengeance on them; and he exercises the patience of his people, and does not plead for them. If prayer were powerless, it would be easy***It is easy to faint in prayer because we are not always convinced of the reality of its power*** prayer too often becomes a last resort instead of a first resource ***
